Calling a Truce
by Inglorious DMK
Summary: Ray and Wyatt, silly fanboys and rivals for Kai's affections, decide to call a temporary truce when they discover a letter from Tala.
1. Part One: Letters from Russia

Title: Calling a Truce  
  
Author: Kameko-chan  
  
Part One: Letters from Russia  
  
Pairings: Kai/Wyatt, Kai/Ray, Kai/Tala  
  
Warnings: Ray being an annoying fanboy, Wyatt being an annoying fanboy... remember darlings, it's in the spirit of fun, so don't get mad because I made your precious Ray totally OOC.  
  
...Wyatt, however, is totally IC. I'm sorry, but fanboy-ing is just what he does.  
  
Oh yeah, and watch out for swearing and some innuendo, as well as gratuitous use of the word 'kinky'.  
  
Enjoy!  
  
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The two boys glared daggers at each other from across the room.  
  
"Ray," the shorter said curtly.  
  
"Wyatt," said the other, his normally kind and smiling face contorted with a vicious sneer. "Is it Christmas already?" he asked, gesturing to Wyatt's red and green schoolboy ensemble.  
  
The other rolled his eyes. "Nice one, you come up with that all by yourself? Besides," a condescending grin pulled at the corners of his mouth, "the school makes me wear this. What's your excuse, butt-flap boy?"  
  
Ray hissed. "That's it, your ass is grass, mister!" he cried, lunging towards Wyatt with raised fists.  
  
"Bring it on, pussy-cat!!"  
  
"You're asking for it!!!"  
  
"What are you guys doing?"  
  
Ray and Wyatt froze, Ray's fist about an inch from Wyatt's nose and Wyatt's fingers tangled in Ray's hair, ready to yank. Uttering quiet squeaks of surprise, the two sprang apart.  
  
"Kai!" Ray said cheerily, grinning as he took one of the stoic boy's arms. "You're just in time, I was about to cook dinner. I need a taste-tester, and only the most exquisite palate will do!"  
  
"Sorry to disappoint you, Raymond," Wyatt said, spitting out Ray's name like it was poison, "but Kai promised to practice with me this afternoon." He grabbed Kai's other arm and shot a venomous glare at his feline-featured rival.  
  
Kai sighed. 'Sometimes,' he thought as Ray and Wyatt proceeded to play tug- of-war with his person, 'it's really hard being the sexy, broody one. Especially when you live with a couple of psychotic fanboys.'  
  
Ray and Wyatt were so busy screaming at each other that they didn't notice Kai slip out of his arm guards (which he'd unearthed from the back of the closet that morning... thank the gods that urged him to put them on...) and slink silently out the door. One would think that the object of their rival affections would warrant a bit more attention, but what are ya gonna do?  
  
"Why would Kai want to go spend time with blah, boring, you when he could be alone with sexy, scintillating, me?" Ray flipped back his currently loose ebony locks as if to prove his sexiness, choosing to ignore the fact that said act caused his hair to get static-y like nobody's business.  
  
"Sexy? Hah! Who'd want to go out with a mutant freak show like you? Besides, I'm waaaaaayyyyy cuter!" Wyatt stuck out his tongue, the universal gesture of 'so there'.  
  
Ray glared and made another unmistakable gesture, and a very rude one at that.  
  
"Sonnova..."  
  
"Oi!"  
  
At the sound of a voice that wasn't the other's shouting various profanities, the bickering duo whipped around to face an exasperated- looking Tyson. "Either of you two loons seen Kai?" he asked quickly, a mere glance telling him that he did NOT want to get involved. "I've got mail for him."  
  
"Are you blind, Tyson?" Ray said irritably. "He's right..." Ray looked at the empty gauntlet he held in a death-lock, "...here." He glared at Wyatt and bopped him on the head with the fashion accessory turned weapon. "What'd you do with him, whore?!"  
  
"Owwww..." Wyatt rubbed the spot where Ray hit, then retaliated in kind. "I didn't do anything with him, skank! What'd YOU do with him?!"  
  
The rivals commenced dueling with the gauntlets, which made surprisingly good foils. Determined more than ever to not get involved in this one, Tyson merely rolled his eyes and went in search of Kai... heavily scented envelope with a Russian postmark leaving a sweet-smelling trail in his wake.  
  
A few minutes later, realization finally hit the two bumbling, love-struck fools, who promptly dropped their weapons and went running.  
  
"Tysoooonnnnn!!! Who's sending mail to Kai?!!"  
  
***  
  
An hour later, Ray and Wyatt declared a temporary truce to commence Operation: Steal the Letter. Earlier, they had followed Tyson to Kai's hiding place under the basement stairs (which both noted for future reference) and watched in shock as his expression went from annoyance at their intrusion, to curiosity at receiving the letter, to a full-body blush upon reading said letter. The pale prettyboy then muttered something about needing to take a shower and dashed off in a blink, leaving the three remaining persons shocked and confused.  
  
Naturally, our two boys were very intrigued at the contents of this letter, which had made the object of their shared lust react in a way that months of innuendo-filled conversations and dirty little hints had not even come close to inducing. Hence, Operation: Steal the Letter.  
  
It was a simple plan, really. Every night after dinner, Kai would spend an hour reading in the living room (he was halfway through 'Lord of the Rings, Return of the King' on this particular night). All Ray and Wyatt had to do was sneak into Kai's room during his reading time, find the letter, read it through quickly, then stick it back where they found it. Kai, they thought, would never be the wiser.  
  
What they didn't plan for, however, was Kai still being in possession of the letter when their intricate little plan was to commence, which, of course, is what happened. Needless to say, this put a bit of a kink in their plans (and not the good kind of kink, either). But no one ever accused our boys of being unable to improvise, and so here's how things played.  
  
First, Ray sauntered up to Kai and plopped himself in the boy's lap. Kai, while annoyed, was quite used to behavior like this, and had learned long ago that ignoring Ray would get him away quickly. So, Kai continued to read his book while Ray batted his eyelashes in his perfected (though useless on this particular specimen) I'm-a-vulnerable-uke-boy-take-me-now style.  
  
'Moron,' Kai thought idly as Ray abandoned the fluttery lashes approach and began chattering on about all of Kai's virtues. Kai just kept ignoring the boy on his lap, until Ray also abandoned the complimenting routine and took an entirely new approach.  
  
Kai face turned bright red as he felt the distinct presence of a hand on his ass. That was the last straw! He could take the lewd comments, the unending innuendo, the flying glomps and the incessant all-around fanboy- ing behavior, but he was NOT a squeeze toy, damn it all!  
  
Enraged, Kai placed his novel on the table beside his chair, grabbed Ray by the ear, and tossed him out the door, which he then barricaded with a desk and several armchairs. Then he went back to his book.  
  
On the other side of the door, Ray rubbed his throbbing ear pitifully and gave Wyatt a glare. "Nice idea, genius. You know he hates being groped."  
  
The younger boy just sighed. "Did you get the letter or not?"  
  
Ray pulled the slightly crumpled paper out of his front pocket in response.  
  
"So my plan worked, and that's all that matters. Besides, I didn't see you coming up with any brilliant ideas."  
  
"Shut up, schoolboy." Ray tucked the letter back in its hiding place and looked around suspiciously. "Now let's go read this thing and get it back to Kai before he or anyone else realizes it's missing, otherwise we'll be more screwed than we already are." "Fine." Wyatt glanced around. "My room's closest."  
  
"Whatever."  
  
Wyatt's room was on the first level, just down the hall. The two walked the short distance in silence, even when Wyatt stubbed his toe on a doorframe and hopped about screeching noiseless curses. Only when the rivals-turned- cohorts were in the safety of the locked room did Ray bring out the letter again, and they dared speak.  
  
"It looks like it's postmarked Russia," Ray said, eyeing the envelope with restrained malice.  
  
"That would make sense," Wyatt reasoned, "since that's his homeland. It's logical that he has friends, relatives, or other obligations there."  
  
Ray raised a single eyebrow. "I don't know about you, but I don't think any relatives or friends of his would be sending perfumed letters."  
  
"Good point. Way to use your brain for once, Raymond."  
  
"Don't make me hurt you."  
  
"Shut up." Wyatt removed the letter from the envelope. "This will answer all of our questions."  
  
"It's written in Russian," Ray pointed out, "how are we supposed to read it?"  
  
"Easy!" Wyatt whipped out a pair of reading glasses from his jacket pocket. "I'm fluent in Russian!"  
  
"Isn't that convenient," Ray muttered dryly.  
  
Wyatt shot a disapproving frown in Ray's direction. "Don't be pouty just because I took the time to learn Kai's native language and you didn't."  
  
"I'm not pouty!" Ray whined in a distinctly pouty fashion. "He'd probably think it was creepy if he knew you could speak fluent Russian, anyways."  
  
"Newsflash, Ray—he already thinks we're both creepy." Wyatt scanned the letter. "Just because we can't restrain our fanboy-ish tendencies when he walks into a room, we're automatically deemed insane."  
  
Ray regarded the other boy thoughtfully. "You're making a lot of sense for once, Wy. Hell, I think that if you weren't chasing after my man, I would've liked you."  
  
"YOUR man?"  
  
"I saw him first."  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
"So, what's the letter say?" Ray asked, deciding to put the conversation back on track. He leaned over Wyatt's shoulder and looked at the neat, even, writing on the letter, but could not make any sense of it. "Does it say who it's from?"  
  
Wyatt batted Ray away distractedly; he hated it when people read over his shoulder. He turned his attention back to the letter and frowned. "I don't know a lot of these words, they're Russian slang and I haven't brushed up on that for awhile." Wyatt glanced at his raven-haired rival, temporarily forgetting that he hated the boy. "Could you grab that book off the shelf? The one called 'Russian words and phrases that the Man doesn't want you to learn'?" Ray retrieved the book and handed it to Wyatt. "Okay, let's look these up..."  
  
'You know,' Ray thought as he observed Wyatt go from sheet white to beet red in a matter of seconds, 'that's probably not a good thing.'  
  
Wyatt shut his dictionary with a slam and placed his hands over his cheeks in a vain attempt to hide his blush. Ray was surprised—whatever was in that letter must have been DAMNED good to faze Wyatt, king of innuendo and dirty, kinky thoughts. Ray knew, he'd read the other boy's journal a fair few times.  
  
"So?" Ray was getting irritated at Wyatt's display. "What does it say? Who's it from?"  
  
"It's from Tala," Wyatt managed to croak out, "and as for what it says..." the schoolboy turned 5 shades of red and buried his face in his hands again. "Let's just say that he's got a hell of an imagination, and leave it at that."  
  
Ray was thoroughly puzzled. "Why would Tala be sending kinky love letters to Kai?" You see, our dearest Ray could be a little slow sometimes, especially when the situation involved matters of love/lust; romance just wasn't his game. Luckily, Wyatt was there to knock some sense into him. Literally.  
  
Wyatt smacked Ray across the head. "Stupid cat-boy. They've been carrying out a long-distance relationship behind our backs! Tala is coming here in a week to tell everyone, and..." the cursed blush returned, "to do some other... stuff."  
  
Ray blinked as he tried to process this information. Kai had a boyfriend? Kai's boyfriend was TALA? And Tala was a kinky sexaholic who was coming there next week to violate HIS Kai's virtue? Impossible! Unthinkable! No way in the Seven Hells was that going to happen! Ray's eyes blazed with determination. If anyone were going to threaten Kai's virtue, it would be him!!!  
  
Wyatt regarded Ray's countenance thoughtfully. "Are we extending the truce, then?"  
  
"Indeed we are. I'd rather see Kai end up with you than in the arms of that tart." Ray grinned wickedly. "Get that letter back to Kai before he notices that it's gone, then meet me back here. I have a plan."  
  
------TBC------  
  
Did everyone enjoy the first part of my little nonsensical chunk of fluff? No? Well, good thing I don't care! ^_^ I'm gonna keep writing whether you like it or not.  
  
BTW, this fic is a gift for my friend, KP. *waves* 


	2. Part Two: Playing the Part

Title: Calling a Truce

Author: Kameko-chan

Part Two: Playing the Part

Pairings: Kai/Wyatt, Kai/Ray, Kai/Tala, aaaand Ray/Wyatt (XD you'll see)

Warnings: More OOC, more swearing, more innuendo. Hooray!

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Tala's arrival the following week was an unexpected surprise for everyone but Kai and our 2 unlikely protagonists. I suppose that means it was only a surprise to Tyson, Max and Kenny, but this is beside the point. The fact of the matter was that Tala was there, fresh from Russia, with no explanation as to why, and this left our lovely Kai in quite the pickle.

Kai's main worry was centered around his two fanboys. What would they do to his Tala when they found out? He was frightened that the confrontation could turn violent, and if the two boys hadn't been pre-informed he'd have had good reason. Now, while you and I both know that his fears were groundless, he did not, and so when Kenny finally asked Tala what he was doing there, Kai blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Family reunion!"

'_Damnit. Fucking mouth._'

Everyone, including Tala, gave Kai a funny look. The boy cursed inwardly. Family reunion, what the hell was he thinking?! Tala was an orphan, and everyone knew it. '_Curse Tala and his stupid sexiness for distracting me,_'he muttered mentally. '_Now how do I explain that weird little outburst?_'

However, to Kai's surprise, Ray of all people covered for him. "Yes, that's the title to that song!" He grinned and gave the pale boy a quick hug. "Thanks!"

Kai was quite confused, though quite thankful that his blunder also happened to be the title of a dirty Blink 182 song (one he was quite fond of, actually, but let's not delve into that right now). Well, Ray's comment _served_ as a cover, but how could Ray cover for him unless he knew what was going on? And if he knew what was going on, why hadn't he started a vicious catfight as soon as Tala walked in the door? And why... oh whatever. Deciding to ponder Ray's odd act later (maybe he _had _been asking about that song...?), Kai merely shot the younger boy a grateful smile and proceeded to state the lie he'd _planned _to tell. "Tala's visiting us for a couple weeks," he said smoothly; Kai could lie quite eloquently when he was calm. "He's on vacation, and he doesn't have the cash to stay anywhere else, poor guy."

"Not enough money?" Max wrinkled his nose. "Boris must be pretty stingy with the prize winnings, I know that second place for the world tournament last year shelled out five hundred grand."

Tala shrugged. "After taxes, Beyblade maintenance, Boris' fee for room, board, travel and training, and putting some away for when I am older, there's not much left. It all adds up."

God, how Kai loved it when his lover let his Russian accent slip through...

"Well, don't worry!" Ray clapped a friendly hand on Tala's shoulder. "Just cook a meal here and there, help out little Wy-chan with his blading, and we'll be square!"

"Thank you," Tala said as Ray stood back and gave Wyatt a discreet thumbs up. "I should probably put my things away now. Kai, will I be staying in your room?"

"Yes," Kai said, maybe a little too anxiously, "Yes, I've got the cot set up. Here, let me take your bags..."

Trying not to look like they were in too much of a hurry (and failing horribly, I might add) Kai and Tala each grabbed a couple of suitcases and bounded up the stairs to Kai's room.

Kenny tilted his head in curiosity as he watched the two flee. "You know," the diminutive boy pondered, "I've a feeling there's something they're not telling us."

"Now, now, Chief, you know Kai would never tell a lie." Ray turned to Wyatt. "I'm going to make some tea, you want any?"

"I'll come by in a minute, there's a report I need to print out."

"Alright."

Tyson looked from one boy to the other in confusion as they went their separate ways. "I _know _there's something they're not telling us." He narrowed his eyes. "I'm gonna be watching those two..."

"Hey, Tyson, do we even _have _a cot?"

Tala closed the door to Kai's room ever so softly before turning around and shoving Kai on to the bed. The slate-haired boy grinned sexily as his redheaded Russian lover pounced on him, pinning him to the coverlet. "Someone's impatient," he teased. Apparently, Tala had been looking forward to this even more than he had.

"Shut up. From here on in, you're only allowed to moan unintelligibly or scream in ecstasy. New rules." Tala loosed the scarf around Kai's neck and immediately started placing soft, teasing, kisses on the sensitive skin. He smiled smugly as the boy beneath him let out soft gasps of pleasure. Tala had found out about _that _particular little sensitivity of Kai's very early on, and he loved to take advantage of it. He was, in fact, quite proud that he'd been the reason Kai started wearing scarves all the time; they looked damn good, after all.

Tala's fingers twitched with the urge to reveal more of the fabulous body that awaited him, so he shifted slightly and let his hands creep under the shirt Kai still wore. Hm, he'd have to fix that soon. For the moment, he let his fingers roam aimlessly while he continued to assault Kai's neck. Impulsively, he let his tongue dart out to trace those incredible blue tattoos he loved, and he was rewarded with an adorable squeak of surprise.

"God, Kai." Tala pulled back and took in his boyfriend lying beneath him. Kai's breathing had harshened in anticipation, his eyes were glassy and clouded with a sweet mixture of love and lust. He was, in a word, utterly fuckable. Okay, that's two words, but who's counting? The teen leaned forward slightly. "I am going to make you feel so good you'll be in agony."

"You always do." Kai's calloused fingers wound their way through Tala's unruly locks. He tugged until their faces were barely an inch apart. "And I thought we weren't supposed to be talking?"

"Shut up."

A kiss: soft, sweet, languid.

"I've missed you, Tala."

"I know."

It was at that moment, that peaceful, perfect moment, that Ray and Wyatt's plan was set into motion.

Kai's hand brushed a paper sticking precariously out of Tala's jacket pocket. The document fluttered to the bed, spilling the scent of expensive French perfume. The smell invaded Kai's nostrils, and his eyes fluttered open the same instant his lover noticed the unfamiliar fragrance. Both pairs of eyes came to rest on the lilac-colored envelope, scrawled upon with "My Dearest Tala" in emerald calligraphy. Kai did not recognize the writing as his own.

Waiting just inside his doorway, Wyatt grinned evilly as the room down the hall exploded in cacophony. The sound of a door slamming rang out, and a quick peek through the doorway revealed Kai facing the wall in an attempt to hide his tears.

Wyatt took a minute to compose himself—it wouldn't do to walk into a situation like this with a maniac grin on his face. Mustering a look of surprise and concern, Wyatt stepped into the hall and approached his stalk-ee. "What's the matter, Kai?" A faint grin stole across his visage, but only for a moment. "Trouble with your boy?"

Kai quickly glared at the petite boy beside him. "That's none of your _fucking_—wait," Kai stopped mid-rant and blinked confusedly. "You knew?"

Wyatt rolled his eyes while mentally congratulating himself on his fine acting skills. "Of _course _I knew, so did Ray! Why did you think we started leaving you alone?" Kai thought about it and realized that there _had _been a significant drop in annoyances. Wyatt smiled. "Come on, Ray's got tea started, why don't you join us? You can tell us what's troubling you."

Kai took a deep breath and brushed away a stray tear that had threatened to escape. "Okay," he said softly, and his voice was so laden with despair that it nearly broke Wyatt's heart to hear. Not for the first time since he and Ray had started this little venture, Wyatt began to feel guilty about what they were doing. '_It's worth it_' he told himself harshly, '_Kai deserves better than him!_' Determined now, he placed a hand on Kai's shoulder and steered him towards the kitchen.

Ray already had two cups out when they arrived, and upon seeing Kai in tow he jumped up and rummaged around the cupboard for a third. Wyatt nearly started grinning, Ray played his part well. There was no way this could fail.

"So," Ray casually began dealing out the tea, then took a seat. "What brings you out of the love nest, hm? Oh Wyatt, don't sit there," he grinned and pulled Wyatt away from the chair next to him. "There's plenty of room on my lap, love!"

Wyatt nearly smacked Ray upside the head out of pure reflex, but reminded himself that this was part of the plan. He tried not to shudder as he snaked an arm around Ray's neck and muttered "Don't play your part _too_ well, Raymond."

Kai looked positively stunned. Ha, perfect, this little charade would throw him off their trail for sure. Wyatt flashed a dazzling grin in his direction. "Well, there _was _another reason we started to leave you alone." Ray chuckled and squeezed the ass resting in his lap, earning him an indignant squeak and a cuff to the head as Wyatt's composure slipped. Oh well, Wyatt would probably act like that anyways—like Kai, he hated to be treated as a squeeze-toy.

Ray squeezed it again, just to piss him off.

Kai stared incredulously at the pair for a minute or two before laughing softly to himself. "Well, at least there's one relationship under this roof that's working out."

Wyatt shifted in Ray's lap to get a better view of their victim. "So it is trouble with Tala, then. What happened?"

Kai took a shaky breath. "There was... a letter. A love letter, in his pocket." A tear trickled down his cheek, and Kai was too upset to even bother wiping it away. "'To my dearest Tala,' it said, 'Thank you for that magical night in Moscow, I'll never forget it.'" To the surprise of the room's two other occupants, Kai started sobbing, great, heart wrenching wails. "How could he do this to me?" he cried bitterly, "I love him!"

Wyatt looked over at Ray and saw that he wasn't the only one feeling guilty. The nekoboy cleared his throat and patted Kai's head awkwardly, partially due to the awkwardness of the situation but mostly because Wyatt was still in his lap. "Hey, don't worry, I'm sure everything will work out fine. For now, why don't you get some sleep, everything will look better in the morning."

That just provoked another sob. "T-t-t-tala's in my r-r-r-room!!"

"You can sleep in mine," Ray said desperately, "I'll bunk with Wyatt!" Said boy shot Ray a look of surprise, but he wasn't paying attention.

Kai sniffled. "Thanks, Ray. You know, you guys are really great friends when you're not trying to get into my pants." He quickly drained the rest of his tea and stood up. "I think I will go to bed now. Good night."

Ray and Wyatt watched as the blue-haired boy shuffled down the hallway. Ray smiled wryly. "So, when do we stop feeling like assholes?"

"You never told me, how did you know that Kai'd find the letter?"

It was late. Ray, true to his word, was in Wyatt's room while Kai dozed in his. Wyatt had thrown a few blankets and pillows on the floor, suggestion of sharing the bed only getting Ray another clout to the head. Now Wyatt glared at the boy on his floor, unhappy to be reminded of his presence. "I didn't know for sure, that's why we had plan B."

"Yeah, but he _did _find it, so what gave you the idea?"

Wyatt blushed. "If you must know, in the letter, Tala mentioned keeping his jacket on while they, well," his face became as red as a tomato, "you know. So I figured that if we stuck it in his pocket loosely enough, it wouldn't be able to stay put during such, ah, rigorous activities."

"Wearing the jacket during sex?" Ray stared up at the ceiling. "Those two are kinda kinky."

Wyatt shuddered. "'Kinda' is an understatement."

"Hey!" Ray flipped over and stared at Wyatt. "You never told me what was in that letter!" Wyatt's eyes widened. "Ha, I know it was something good!" Ray pounced on the bed, startling its occupant. "Tellmetellmetellme!!!!"

"No!!" Wyatt pushed Ray away. "I don't wanna think about it!"

"Pleeeaaassseeee..."

"It was nothing special!"

"But you keep BLUSHING!"

"Tala's just got a very active imagination and a way with words." Wyatt avoided Ray's gaze. "And some stuff... surprised me, that's all."

Ray looked at him for a moment, then started grinning. "Oh... my... god... you didn't know that Kai's a bottom-boy!" He started laughing like a maniac. "That's hilarious!!"

"Shut up, shut up!" Wyatt clamped his hands over his ears.

"Aw, don't worry Wy-chan, when I'm done screwing Kai into the sheets I'll make some time for you, too. I'll even paint my face if that makes you feel better."

"I said SHUT UP!!"

It was going to be a long, long night.

----------TBC----------

Don't mind me, I'm just crazy.


	3. Part Three: Guilt Springs Eternal

Title: Calling a Truce  
Author: Kameko-chan  
Part Three: Guilt Springs Eternal  
Pairings: Kai/Wyatt, Kai/Ray, Kai/Tala, aaaand Ray/Wyatt (XD you'll see)

Warnings: More OOC, more swearing, implied boysex, and some sap that made me want to wretch even as I wrote it --;; Plus it's kinda rushed, but I wanted it to be dooooone!

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Ray and Wyatt always thought that they knew a lot about Kai. They were his fanboys, after all. However, while the boys knew everything from his birthday to favorite food, in the weeks that following the onset of their scheme they discovered that, in fact, they knew nothing about Kai at all.

Tala went home a few days after the incident, when it became clear that Kai wasn't going to be willing to patch things up any time soon. Ray and Wyatt were glad for it; watching Tala try so desperately to get a word out of him lover could break anyone's heart. They felt guilty again, but Wyatt reasoned that if Kai could so easily believe the story they concocted then Tala must have been the skanky whore they feared. That made them both feel a little better.

After Tala left, the vulnerable Kai became Ray and Wyatt's second shadow. The pair was still pretending to be together, as breaking up right after Tala's departure would have raised suspicion. In their new seemingly disinterested state (perhaps 'preoccupied' might be a better term for it) it seemed Kai found them to be ideal confidants. The trio could often be found on walks around the neighborhood, Ray and Wyatt strolling hand in hand while they listened to a wistful Kai tell stories about his homeland. It was during these meanderings that Ray and Wyatt learned of their complete ignorance. Kai told them all about the important things they'd never bothered to think about before. He told them about his parents, life in the abbey, how he'd formed the Bladesharks and how much he wanted to apologize to them for being such an ass in his youth. Indeed, it seemed that beneath the cold, broody exterior, Kai's soul was all too human. "Damned friendship softened me, I guess," he said with a wry grin when Ray mentioned how much he'd changed over the years. "Love, too," he muttered softly to himself, but while both Ray and Wyatt heard, neither commented.

Our two conniving teens worked day and night to keep the charade going, for even if they wished to stop, they both felt the plan had gone too fan to just drop it now. Ray moved permanently from his basement room to Wyatt's larger one. Wyatt protested, but Ray convinced him that it would be more realistic if they shared a room.

And if Ray got a glance at Wyatt's surprisingly nice bod every once in awhile, well, that'd just be a bonus.

It was three weeks before Kai finally told the story of how he and Tala got together.

The teens were in the living room, drinking coffee and joking around. Ray and Wyatt were snuggled on the couch—maybe a little closer than was necessary, but neither mentioned it—and Kai sat in the cozy recliner across from them. He chuckled and brushed away tears of laughter. "Oh, I haven't felt this good since he left." His voice faltered a bit when he spoke, but the smile remained on his face. Ray took this as a good sign. He tried to exchange a look with the boy at his side, but Wyatt was regarding Kai with a thoughtful expression.

"How did you two end up together?"

Wyatt felt Ray tense beside him. He hadn't meant to ask the question, he'd just been pondering it. Now that he said it, though, he was curious as to what Kai's reaction might be.

Kai's smile grew somewhat wistful, but it did remain and that was something. "We got together because Tala is a sneaky, conniving bastard."

Wyatt raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Do you remember when I went to Russia a couple of years ago? For the summer?" Wyatt nodded. "Well, I went to visit Tala. He was dating Bryan at the time, or so he told me. When I got there, he was sitting outside the abbey dorms with his clothes strewn all over the lawn." Kai chuckled at the memory. "Oh, was he ever mad! It took half a bottle of good Russian vodka to calm him down."

Wyatt leaned forward, listening eagerly. "What then?"

"Well, Tala decided that it would be a good idea to pretend that the two of us were dating, to make Bryan jealous. I didn't have anything better to do, so I said yes." Kai took a sip of coffee and grinned. "It was a month before he told me that the whole thing was a set-up. He and Bryan were never dating, he just told me that so I'd pretend to be his boyfriend and give him a chance to win me over."

"So, you didn't feel the same way for him before? No 'love at first sight'?" Wyatt's eyes grew wide.

Kai snickered. "Love at first sight? No such thing, Wyatt, you out of all people should realize that. Look at you and Ray, you used to hate each other."

The two laughed nervously.

"Anyways," Kai leaned back, "no, I didn't feel that way for him. I only kept in touch with him at all to get news of the abbey, since he was a notorious gossip and knew everything of interest. Like I said, I helped him out because I was bored. However," he smiled sadly, "at some point in our little charade, I fell in love."

The hurt in Kai's voice brought tears to Wyatt's eyes.

"Well," Kai rose from his chair and stretched, "my nightly reading time has been neglected far too often lately. I'll leave you two lovebirds alone." He winked. "Goodnight."

"Well," Ray said as he lay on his makeshift pallet in Wyatt's room, "I think he's ready to move on."

"I guess," Wyatt agreed softly. "That was the first time he's talked about Tala without crying."

Ray sat up. "So, tomorrow we wrap things up? Huge fight in front of everyone and our 'relationship' will be kaput, and Kai can comfort who he chooses." He smiled, though if one looked close enough they could detect a slight strain. Wyatt was not looking. "Are you up to it?"

"I suppose."

Ray looked quizzically at his unusually listless companion. "What's wrong? We got everything we wanted right? Our plan went off without a hitch. Wyatt, are you listening?"

Wyatt, in fact, was not listening. He was too busy thinking about Kai's words: "Love at first sight? No such thing." Was it true? But if it was, then... what did he feel for Kai?

What was love?

"Wyatt!"

Wyatt jumped. "What?!"

Ray's face had fallen. "We did bad, didn't we?"

Wyatt looked over at Ray crestfallen face, and three weeks of guilt festered into a ball of white-hot anger. "We did horrible!" he screamed as he flew up in a rage and lunged at the boy on the floor. "Did you _hear_ him? He loved Tala! He loved him, and we wrecked that!" Tears were streaming down his face then.

"Don't you think I know that?!" Ray snarled, pushing Wyatt violently and pinning him with his greater weight. Wyatt's breath caught, and he wasn't sure why. "I'm doing this for you, idiot!" Ray hissed, "I don't even want him any more!"

Wyatt should have been surprised at that statement, but the rage had not been worked out of his system just yet. "Newsflash, Raymond, I don't want him either!" He didn't, he couldn't stand the thought of he and Kai together, not when Kai loved Tala that much, not when Wyatt realized he never loved Kai in the first place.

"Why the hell not?!"

"Because I don't love him," Wyatt screeched and then, before he knew what he was saying, "I love you!"

Both boys froze, complete and utter silence reigning for a full minute. Wyatt was near tears again as a string of mortified thoughts ran through his mind. Why'd he say that? He didn't love Ray, couldn't love Ray! He didn't even know what love was. And now Ray would laugh at him, and for some reason, Wyatt didn't think he could take that.

"Well, I love you too."

Surprise. "Y-you w-w-what?"

Ray grinned and pulled Wyatt into a sitting position. "At first, I thought you were an annoying little brat. I'd have liked nothing better than to hang you by your thumbs. But sometime during our little charade," Ray's grin softened into a simple smile, the sweetest thing Wyatt had ever seen, "I fell in love with you."

"And I thought you were a stupid nekoboy with the IQ of a grapefruit." Wyatt clung to Ray and the tears did fall, but this time they were of joy and relief rather than guilt and anger. "But I fell in love with you, too. At least, I think it must be love." He sniffled. "I've never felt like this before. Not for Kai, not for anyone."

"Me neither." Ray titled the younger boy's head up so that he might look into his eyes. "But I know I want to wake up tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after, forever, and see you laying beside me. I think that's love."

"Yeah," Wyatt agreed as Ray leaned down to kiss him, "must be. Even if that is the corniest thing I ever heard."

Ray just laughed. And Wyatt knew for sure that this was, indeed, love.

Love's a strange thing, able to so quickly snare such an unlikely pair and leave them hopelessly entangled. Not that either minded, as pale fingers twined through pitch-black hair, as flesh sought flesh in a dance as old as time. How I wish I could end this tale here, with two lost souls who found each other and discovered the meaning of love. Alas, there is a certain, rather important matter that must be resolved first.

"Ray?"

The neko opened his eyes and stared blearily at the boy he clutched to his chest. "What is it?"

Wyatt pulled the blanket further over their bare bodies and scooted closer to his new lover before answering. "We need to tell Kai what we did."

"Why would Kai be interested in our new nocturnal act—"

"Not that, idiot catboy," Wyatt said, though his voice lacked the venom it would have held but a few weeks prior. "About what we did to him and Tala. God, don't you ever think about anything other than sex?"

"Sometimes." Ray nuzzled his face into the other's shoulder, too tired to care about their previous dastardly deeds. "Tomorrow," he murmured, "we'll set things right tomorrow."

Kai was still in his PJ's when Ray and Wyatt came by his room at 8 o'clock the next morning. By PJ's, I of course mean a pair of flame-print boxers and a t-shirt he'd hastily thrown on when he heard the knock. Wyatt would have laughed at the confused morning-brain look he gave them had the situation not been so serious.

"Morning, Kai," Ray said cheerily. "Mind if we talk to you for a minute?"

"Come in, I guess," Kai mumbled sleepily. He yawned as he gestured the pair in. Then he wandered over to his bed and sat down, looking at his visitors expectantly.

"Kai," Wyatt started uneasily, "there's something we need to tell you. We've done something awful."

And so the boys proceeded to tell Kai the whole sordid affair, from reading the letter to their confessions of the previous night. Surprisingly, Kai listened to the whole thing with seeming disinterest.

"And then we figured we should tell you the whole thing," Ray finished, "so here we are."

Kai nodded and rose from his bed. Wyatt flinched, certain that the other boy was going to unleash the wrath he'd been holding in for the duration of the tale. Instead, Kai shuffled over to his closet and opened the door. "You can come out now, love."

If Ray or Wyatt's jaws could extend to the floor, they would have hit it. Out of Kai's closet came Tala, red hair matted from sleep. "About fucking time," the Russian muttered, glaring at the two boys still sitting on the floor, shocked. He stood behind Kai and wrapped his arms around him, kissing him on top of his head. "These guys finally admitted their treachery then, did they?

The two confused boys were doing fair impressions of fish. Kai laughed at them. "You didn't think it was that easy, did you? As if I'd believe that my Tala would whore himself out behind my back."

"Yeah, if I wanted to whore myself out I would have told him." That earned Tala a cuff to the head. "Ow."

Ray and Wyatt were still speechless. Kai sighed and explained. "Wyatt, I recognized your writing almost immediately. It didn't take the genious that I am to figure out what you guys were up to. So, my devilishly sneaky Tala here suggested that we teach the two of you a lesson so you might finally quit chasing after me. Although," he grinned, "you falling for each other instead was quite a surprise." He tilted his head backwards. "Tala, I believe you wanted the honors."

Tala grinned evilly and disengaged himself from his lover. "Indeed I did," he said, advancing on the still immobile boys on the floor.

In the basement den, the three remaining boys in the house heard a loud thump and the slamming of a door. That was soon followed by raucous laughter, which went on for nearly five straight minutes, then the thud of footsteps and another door slamming. Soon after that, there came a faint, rhythmical squeaking and creaking.

Kenny looked at the ceiling. "Should we—"

"What did I tell you?" Tyson asked, staring pointedly at the smaller boy.

Kenny sighed. "'Don't get involved'."

"Exactly. Max, turn up the volume." He winced as a throaty moan wafted down the stairs. "Loud."

END

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Don't ask. Just don't ask. KP, I'm never writing anything for you again XP


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